Well, crafter and thats it. Sure engi is good for movment and some bosses atm need that other then that, it's just minor +/- 2-4 int/str/agi etc

Not 100% sure what you're trying to say here, but engineering's synapse springs are quite good.

Blacksmithing is the most flexible profession in allowing you to choose your perk while still on par with all the rest. It is also pretty much guaranteed to be buffed with the introduction of epic gems, just by the nature of it, while other professions will likely fall behind.

Monk here (not sure it matters).
Enchanting wins.
Why? Because you're a raider, you have a competitive advantage at killing things and acquiring drops. These are worth less to a non-enchanter than to an enchanter, and you don't need to invest any extra time in them compared to most other professions. Enchanting enhances the profitability of your normal play experience by giving you more gold than the vendor when you replace a piece of gear. Combine this with the potential for blood spirits and there's even a market that is actually pretty selective at this point.

Engineering is something I expect will come up in this thread a lot. I think it can actually be a game-changer for some guilds to have engineers, as it allows sometimes extra strategies on certain fights. A raid full of Rocket boots on wind lord is a notable case, as getting the entire raid to him in a quarter of the time pretty much simplifies the final phase of that fight (provided players are good at dodging tornadoes at hyperspeed). Synapse springs are the best stat bonus out of all the professions, as they can be stacked with other cooldowns/vulnerability phases for amplified effect, the parachute/glider is, again, sometimes a solution to a fight mechanic. I don't trust the shield belt tinker; it murders players too often.

A special note goes out to inscription, which makes a lot of money on most servers right now, and money is a primary resource for raiders. If you live on a mountain of gold, you'll never negotiate with yourself about being superlatively prepared. Inscription also has the bonus of being a crafting profession that makes no use of spirits for its primary money-makers, so it pairs well with other professions.

Engineering is something I expect will come up in this thread a lot. I think it can actually be a game-changer for some guilds to have engineers, as it allows sometimes extra strategies on certain fights. A raid full of Rocket boots on wind lord is a notable case, as getting the entire raid to him in a quarter of the time pretty much simplifies the final phase of that fight (provided players are good at dodging tornadoes at hyperspeed). Synapse springs are the best stat bonus out of all the professions, as they can be stacked with other cooldowns/vulnerability phases for amplified effect, the parachute/glider is, again, sometimes a solution to a fight mechanic. I don't trust the shield belt tinker; it murders players too often.

Blade Lord you mean. Nitro boosts are nice sure until they malfunction and you're losing 10% of you health a second for 8s, but sometimes worth the risk. Blade Lord isn't really one of them since the damage in that phase is already pretty high considering constant movement and you don't really want to separate yourself from the healers by going too fast - and no raid is going to have all engineers.

The plasma shield is trash, it was a cata tinker and never got upgraded. A 20k shield is nothing, not even considering its malfunctions.

Engineering and Alchemy. Fun toys with Engi and 2 hour flasks with Alch.

This pretty much. More efficient flask use (Much more of a benefit early on in the expansion than later) and better burst for burn phases. Not to mention SS lines up with my Paladin's ES/LH perfectly for even greater synergy. Outside of the first tier, I'd say BS/Engi because the value of flasks go down while the value of extra versatile stats only ever goes up.

"Reason is not automatic. Those who deny it cannot be conquered by it." - Ayn Rand

This pretty much. More efficient flask use (Much more of a benefit early on in the expansion than later) and better burst for burn phases. Not to mention SS lines up with my Paladin's ES/LH perfectly for even greater synergy. Outside of the first tier, I'd say BS/Engi because the value of flasks go down while the value of extra versatile stats only ever goes up.

The way Synapse Springs works, is that if you don't use it on cooldown every single time, you will do less dps than someone with lets say, Blacksmithing. Every crafting profession gives x stat bonus, and they're tuned to each give the exact same benefit.
So overall your dps goes down if you wait to use it at all during a fight.

The way Synapse Springs works, is that if you don't use it on cooldown every single time, you will do less dps than someone with lets say, Blacksmithing. Every crafting profession gives x stat bonus, and they're tuned to each give the exact same benefit.
So overall your dps goes down if you wait to use it at all during a fight.

Not quite. Think of SS as an extra on-use trinket. Sure, you can macro the on-use trinket to fireball, MS, frost strike, etc and use it on cooldown. That will get you the most up-time, no doubt.

However, engineering (and on-use trinkets as well) really shine with intelligent use of the stat boost. That is to say, using them on cooldown can and will lower your DPS on MANY fights. Using it on cooldown may mean that it pops on Vizier right before a platform change; GG, you now have wasted the CD while running through the fog. It may pop on Elegon as you go to reset stacks, or during a pillar phase. Basically ANY non-patchwerk fight will have a best (and worst) time to use tinkers/trinkets. Getting the most out of the profession is all about knowing when to use or not use them.

Save them for a burn phase, a vulnerability phase, a guaranteed time-on-target phase, etc. You may see a reduction in total stat-boost uptime, but your effective use will be much higher, as will your DPS/HPS. If you're not confident you can do this effectively/reliably, stick to BS/Alch/LW/whatever for the guaranteed static boosts.

But don't forget fights that have a pause in dps can benefit engineer more. Say a melee dps has to run out on elegon to reset stacks. His 320 stat buff is doing nothing to help him while hes not dpsing. However with Engineering you can simply wait to use them until you run back to the boss, increasing your average.

If I could choose from the beginning, and not to care about gathering the materials or anything like that, I would go Blacksmith and Engineer on my Paladin. Both give awesome boosts (2x sockets, belt gadgets et cetera) and Engineering is also lots of fun.

leatherworking / blacksmith
you are not depending on AH regarding enchants which need spirits of harmony (e.g. the leg enchant).
you don't have to farm mats for the expensive bracers enchants.
you don't need to farm stupid reputation to get all patterns.

and most importantly for my guild:
I'm the only damn leatherworker who a) raids and b) has a good supply for motes of harmony.

Engi and alch. Engineering because of the arguments made above. Alchemy because flasks. Though, if I had the time and gold I would probably drop alchemy for enchanting because it never hurts being able to d/e your own gear.